Sunday, 10 January 2016

Tension rises as residents clash with members of strange sect in Osun


Residents of Kelebe Community in Olorunda Local Government Area of Osun State on Sunday clashed with members of a sect whose religion is considered strange by the people. Our correspondent gathered that members of the community, armed with placards with various inscription stormed the worship centre of the sect recently built in the area and asked them to relocate. 

The sect known as Toriqat Satia Organisation is said to combine Christianity with Islam and Traditional Religion in their mode of worship. This is said to be unsettling the residents, who accused the sect of being ritualists. The protest which involved the young and the old in Kelebe community was targeted at the time members of the sect gathered for their own worship. 

It was gathered that some of the protesters had searched the worship centre obviously to find things to link the sect with human rituals but none was found. The ransacking of the place of worship was said to have angered one of the sect leaders who engaged some of the residents in a shouting match. The timely intervention of policemen at the scene prevented the place from being razed down by some youths who were angered by the effrontery of the sect members to challenge them. 

The Chairman of Kelebe Community, Alhaji Ismail Adeniyi, was quoted to have told the policemen who stormed the scene that the presence of the sect was a threat to the residents who considers their religion strange. Adeniyi said the community had written petition against the sect to the police, the Department of State Service, Christian Association of Nigeria and Muslim leaders. 

He said that resident of Kelebe would seek all lawful means to ensure the relocation of the sect from the area. The Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Folasade Odoro, did not pick calls put across to her telephone by our correspondent. 

She had yet to respond to the inquiry sent to her through text message as of the time of filing this report.

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